CHAPTER 30

Crisis of Confidence

1969 – 1980

“I have looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God

recognizes I will do this and forgives me.”

Jimmy Carter, Playboy interview 1976

“They asked if I’d fight for my country.I answered the FBI yeah,

I will point a gun for my country,But I won’t guarantee you which way.”

Woody Guthrie Source:  Pete Seeger -- an original verse, sung to Acres of Clams

"We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield."  George Orwell [1946 essay "In Front of Your Nose."]

"I don¹t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist.” Henry Kissinger [about Chile’s election of Salvadore Allende]

"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit atrocities." Voltaire

"Learning is not compulsory. Neither is survival." -- W. Edwards Deming, business consultant and author

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much … [power]. If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent; I see it, if you don't.'" Congressman Abraham Lincoln during era of "Polk's War"  (Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, The Library of America)

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan

At the Newport (Rhode Island) Jazz Festival in 1963, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan performed as folksingers who worked in the tradition of protest songs. Two years later in Newport, Dylan shocked the popular music world by replacing his acoustic instrument with an amplified guitar and backup and jump-starting a fruitful blending of folk, country, and rock music into radical new sounds. AP/Wide World Photos

Kim Phuc, napalm victim, Viet Nam

This Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of 9-year-old Kim Phuc , center, running after an aerial napalm attack on her village in 1972 was taken by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut (Cong Ut). Kim suffered burns over 65% of her body. She survived and is now a peace activist. AP/Wide World Photos

 The War in Vietnam The United States attacked North Vietnam with air strikes but confined large-scale ground operations to South Vietnam and Cambodia. In South Vietnam, U.S. forces faced both North Vietnamese army units and Viet Cong rebels, all of whom received supplies by way of the so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail, named for the leader of North Vietnam. The coordinated attacks on cities and towns throughout South Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968 surprised the United States.

Richard Nixon

Sp Ct appointments -- Burger [Haynesworth/Carswell] Blackmun, Rehnquist, Powell

Revenue Sharing – block grant v. formula [liberal v. conservative]

Clean Air, EPA, Endangered Species, COLAs, Philadelphia plan

Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg Watergate Furman v. Georgia 1972 Roe v. Wade 1973 Vietnamization Impeachment

Chapter Concepts

Woodstock Music and Art Fair Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Yippies Jefferson Airplane, Beach Boys at BC [1963], Jimi Hendrix Kent State University Equal Rights Amendment [ERA] La Raza Unida Watergate Roe v. Wade Henry Kissinger, Détente, 1973 Chile, Vietnamization George Wallace, George McGovern Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter -- Camp David Accords [Sadat and Begin] Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg Dick Tut in Orange County, “The people have spoken, the b…….s” Jim Jones in Guyana Students for a Democratic Society [SDS], Port Huron Statement, Tom Hayden Free Speech Movement [FSM], Mario Savio, Jane Fonda, Noam Chomsky

Additional Concepts

NIMBYs William Julius Wilson 1978 Bakke California’s Proposition 13 in 1978 Anastasio Somoza, Sandinistas 1980 Olympic Games boycott / Afghanistan Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah] Marielitos October surprise? 1980 Stagflation – unemployment with inflation Kern Council for Civic Unity, BC’s Duane Belcher Ad-Hoc BCSD HEW Hearing, 1974 – Bakersfield City School District – de jure v. de facto Minority Coalition, 1970s Kern County Herb Klein, San Diego Union, Press Secretary CSNY – Chicago and Ohio [songs] Angela Davis, George Jackson [“Soledad Brother”] My Lai – Lt. Calley, Seymour Hersh 1973 Wounded Knee, Dennis Banks, Russell Means in Kern County

Chapter Review

Explain the significance of Vietnamization as a cornerstone of Nixon’s foreign policy. Describe the agendas of minority and women’s rights activists at

the start of the 1970s. List the major accomplishments of the Nixon

administration in foreign affairs outside of Vietnam. [Détente, China]

Briefly outline the events that culminated in the Watergate scandal.

Explain the reasons for the oil crisis of the early 1970s. Identify some of the policies promoted by Jimmy Carter

when he became president in 1976.

Bibliography

William Julius Wilson, The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions [1980]

Gary Sick, October Surprise [1991] Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President

[1995] Barbara Ehrenreich, Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the

Middle Class [1989]

Chronology

1973 Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion / national gov't [Sp. Ct.] forces all states to allow abortions

Arab embargo sparks oil crisis in the US Construction of Alaska oil pipeline begins

1974 Richard Nixon resigns presidency; Gerald FordPresident Ford pardons Nixon and introduces anti-

inflation program Community Development Act funds programs for urban improvement Coalition of Labor Union Women formed

1975 Unemployment rate reaches nearly 9 percent South Vietnamese government falls Anti-busing

protests break out in Boston New York City government declares itself bankrupt

1976 Percentage of African Americans attending college peaks at 9.3 percent and begins a decline Hyde Amendment restricts use of Medicare funds for abortions Tom Wolfe declares "the Me Decade" Jimmy Carter is elected president

1977 President Carter announces human rights as major tenet in foreign policy Stagflation-- unemployment and inflation Depart. of Energy is established

1978 Bakke v. University of California new limits on affirmative action Senator Edward Kennedy calls attention to "a permanent underclass" Panama Canal Treaties arrange for turning the canal over to Panama by 2000 Camp David meeting terms for Middle East Peace California passes Proposition 13, cutting property taxes and government social programs Inflation reaches 10 percent

1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident threatens a meltdown Moral Majority is formed SALT II treaty is signed in Vienna but later stalls in the Senate Nicaragua Revolution [Sandinistas] overthrows Anastasio

Somoza Iranian fundamentalists seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran and

hold hostages 444 days Soviets invade Afghanistan Equal Rights Amendment, three states short of ratification, gets

a three-year extension but eventually dies anyway 1980 United States boycotts Olympic Games in Moscow due to

Afghanistan

I. America United and Divided

Neil Armstrong walks on moon and young people celebrate Woodstock in 1969

Nixon begins “Vietnamization” -- bringing American troops home Anti-war movement escalates, with Kent State best example Americans learn more about events in Vietnam and become even

more divided

II. Activism, Rights and Reform

Women’s rights see some improvement Minority groups push for rights as well After not receiving black votes, Nixon shows little concern

for civil rights Nixon impacts Supreme Court, especially with Warren

Burger Roe v. Wade abortion ruling stuns country Court also attacks lingering segregation

The Struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment

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III. New Directions at Home and Abroad

Nixon restructures welfare and returns much control to state level First Earth Day is celebrated in 1970, and Nixon joins ranks of

environmentally aware President supports CIA in covert actions in Latin America Nixon visits China and eases tensions with Soviet Union

IV. Four More Years?

Watergate Hotel burglary goes unnoticed by most, and Nixon wins landslide victory

America withdraws from Vietnam in “exit without honor” Watergate leads to Nixon’s resignation, and Gerald Ford becomes

president War in Middle East, and American support for Israel, bring oil

embargo against U.S.

Presidential Election, 1972

V. Gerald Ford in the White House

Ford pardons Nixon and offers “conditional amnesty” to Vietnam draft evaders, angering many Americans

North Vietnam takes South Vietnam Americans view Ford as unprepared Jimmy Carter wins 1976 election

The Election of 1976

VI. The Carter Years

Carter supports civil rights, but affirmative action still polarizes nation President oversees return of Canal Zone to Panama and

orchestrates Camp David Accord between Israel and Egypt Inflation, high unemployment, and energy crisis burden America Iranian hostage situation unseats Carter

The Election of 1980

Kent State

The shootings at Kent State University in May 1970 reflected the deep divisions in American society created by the Vietnam War, including those between antiwar college students and young people serving in the armed forces. © John Paul Filo/Hutton/Archive

Antiwar Protests

Antiwar protests were simultaneously symbolic and disruptive. Some activists dumped jars of animal blood over draft-board records. Others tried to block munitions trains. In October 1967, a hundred thousand people marched on the Pentagon and surrounded it with the light of burning draft cards. Some in front stuck flowers in the rifle barrels of the soldiers ringing the building; others kicked and spat. The troops and police cleared the grounds with tear gas and clubs. Corbis–Bettman

Peace sign

A hippie gestures the peace sign while standing in a meadow. Getty Images, Inc.–Taxi

Black Panther Party

Some members of the Black Panther party raised funds to pay for the legal fees of those arrested and charged with various offenses, such as Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins. The Panthers advocated a radical economic, social, and educational agenda that made the group the target of a determined campaign of suppression by the police and the FBI. Magnum Photos Inc.

MLK – the dream continued. . .

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Corbis/Bettmann

Nixon and Elvis

This is the single most requested item in the National Archives which contain, among other national treasures, originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. President Nixon and Elvis Presley met at the singer’s request. He had volunteered to work in the administration’s anti-drug crusade. The president, looking for a way to reach out to young people, readily agreed. He appointed Presley a “deputy” in the anti-drug war. Presley was, at the time, addicted to a variety of uppers, downers, and other medications. [Photograph is in the public domain and available at the National Archives]

Civilian Causalities in Vietnam

A South Vietnamese farmer grieves over the bodies of his wife and son lying in a mud paddy after stepping on a land mine in the Tay Ninh Province.

Nixon's Cabinet

President Richard Nixon confers with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, John Ehrlichman, and Harry Haldeman in the Oval Office.

Securing Deo Mang Pass

U.S. Army troops from the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division move away from a landing zone along a dirt road while securing Deo Mang Pass in 1965.

The Inauguration of Richard Nixon

Richard and Pat Nixon stand before a crowd during the presidential inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 1969.

Vietnam

An American soldier struggles through the thick jungle of the central highlands of Vietnam during a search-and-destroy mission.

Arthur Ashe While African American athletes in boxing, football, baseball, and basketball were common in the early 1970s, Arthur Ashe was one of the few African American tennis stars and a frequent champion.

Environmental worries, 1973

Sign on bridge near PPG plant near Ponce, Puerto Rico, protests air pollution .

President Nixon meets with China's Communist Party Leader, Mao Tse-Tung in 1971

President Richard Nixon visited The People's Republic of China in 1971, forever ending the ''sterile pretense that Communist China did not exist.''

Rand, West Virginia, 1973

President Johnson's ''War on Poverty'' did not bring hope to all Americans. In Rand, W.Va., most of the inhabitants were still living in abject poverty in the 1970s.